She said: "Drunk passengers on flights can pose a real safety risk, and they can create an unpleasant or even intimidating environment for other passengers and air crew.

"The new statistics suggest that more needs to be done to tackle the problem."

Passengers convicted of being drunk on an aircraft can face a fine or up to two years' imprisonment.

A spokesman for the British Air Transport Association, the organisation representing UK airlines, said disruptive passengers can have a 'big impact'.

He added that this behaviour can involve 'threats to passengers, crew and aircraft safety'.

Aviation minister Robert Goodwill said: "Passengers who become disruptive on flights after drinking alcohol cause distress to other travellers, create knock-on delays to other flights, and in rare cases can even put flight safety at risk.

"That is why we strongly support efforts to tackle the problem. Airports, airlines and the police are developing an industry-wide code of conduct and running information campaigns aimed at passengers."

The Airport Operators Association said that while disruptive behaviour is 'unacceptable', it only occurs on 'a very small minority of flights'.